


wide open to the sun

by possibilityleft



Category: Tangled (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, Soulmate Name as Tattoo, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-15
Updated: 2017-05-15
Packaged: 2018-11-01 04:02:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10913928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/possibilityleft/pseuds/possibilityleft
Summary: Rapunzel is sure she'll never find her soulmate -- not just because she never leaves her tower, but also because she never got her soulmate tattoo.  A retelling of the movie incorporating the Soulmate Name as Tattoo trope.





	wide open to the sun

**Author's Note:**

  * For [OzQueen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OzQueen/gifts).



In all of the fairytales Rapunzel read, a person's soulmate tattoo appeared at birth, often on some prominent but polite part of their body, like the crook of their elbow or the the outside edge of their ankle. The princess -- the stories were always about princesses, and for a while Rapunzel had just believed that "princess" just meant any young, unmarried woman -- would puzzle over the name all through her childhood, dreaming about the person she was destined to fall in love with. In the ones that Rapunzel loved the most, the princess's parents would keep her away from anyone with that name, just in case she fell in love with someone unsuitable, but it always turned out that a kind maid or friendly stableboy had been using a name other than the one they were born to in order to seek employment at the castle, and they were the princess's destined lover. The royal parents had to give in to destiny once the princess realized that her tattoo matched the one on the commoner's body, and the two always lived happily ever after in the end.

When Rapunzel had mentioned to her mother that she found the stories sweet and romantic, her mother helpfully explained that not everyone had a romantic soulmate, and even if they had a tattoo, they might never find the person whose name was etched into their skin. Plenty of people spent their lives happily alone or living with family, or even married non-soulmate partners that they cared for. Gothel told her this so she wouldn't be disappointed when she couldn't find her own soulmate. In fact, Rapunzel's soulmate tattoo might never appear, even after she reached puberty, when most people's tattoos became visible. She shouldn't be disappointed if that were the case. Gothel didn't have a tattoo either, and she would happily live with and care for Rapunzel for the rest of their lives.

Every morning when Gothel brushed out Rapunzel's hair, she checked for Rapunzel's tattoo. Rapunzel was used to the ritual, lifting up her skirt for the quick inspection and loosening the stays on her dress. Gothel was very clinical and quick with the whole thing, seeming annoyed with the necessity, but she declined when Rapunzel offered to simply check herself in the full length mirror each morning. The tattoo never appeared, even as Rapunzel neared her eighteenth birthday, which Rapunzel found disappointing.

*

The tattoo was one of the first things she noticed about Flynn Rider when she pulled him from her wardrobe and tied him up. She tried to handle him as little as possible by hand, but there was no missing the small name marked in neat red letters on his wrist: _Rapunzel_.

It felt like her heart had stopped. She dropped him again and retreated to the rafters to consider. He was still passed out and only acknowledged the rough handling with an uncomfortable snort. Rapunzel crouched above him, staring down at his vacant face in wonder. Her hand was tight on the rafter, so much that it hurt a little, and she could feel all her weight resting on her bare feet pressed against the wood. Pascal trilled at her, worried.

"It's a coincidence," Rapunzel said to herself. This was her life, not a fairytale. Anyway, she didn't have a tattoo. She'd checked herself again this morning to be sure, way before the strange man had come into the picture. People could only be soulmates if they both had tattoos with each other's names. Otherwise, it wasn't destiny. This guy just happened to be soulmates with another woman who had the same name she did. It was probably a really common name, in fact, and Rapunzel just didn't know because she hadn't met anybody else.

The thought bolstered her, and after a few minutes, she resumed with her plan. She'd tie him up until he agreed to take her to see the lights, and then they could go their separate ways. He could go find his Rapunzel and take that crown with him, and she'd go back to her normal life. The tattoo didn't change a thing.

*

They were well out of the tunnel now, and Rapunzel's clothes were finally drying, but she still felt the weight of water on her chest, a barely concealed panic gripping her even though they were technically safe now. Flynn -- _Eugene_ \-- had taken the news about her hair better than she had expected, given all of her mother's warnings. He let her take his hand and wrap the locks around it. Rapunzel's fingers were touching the edge of his tattoo as she held his hand steady, and she saw her own name looking up at her again. She opened her mouth to sing, and then closed it. Flynn looked at her expectantly.

"Have you -- have you found her yet? Your Rapunzel?" she said, trying to make her voice casual and knowing she was failing at it. Eugene, furrowed his brow as if in confusion, and then looked down at his wrist and laughed.

"Oh, hah. Yeah, so the thing is, the lost princess's name is Rapunzel, and you would not believe how many people name their kids after royalty! Like your mom," he said, gesturing in her direction in example. "I have met so many Rapunzels in my life, but not one of them had "Flynn" on their tattoo." He shrugged. "That's how it goes sometimes."

"Maybe you should be looking for one that says "Eugene,"" Rapunzel suggested, as a weight lifted off her chest.

Eugene groaned. "I should never have admitted it," he said.

Rapunzel grinned at him, and then she sang, the glow of her hair burnishing the red letters bronze.

*

"He has my name on his wrist!" Rapunzel blurted out, and Gothel almost looked surprised. Then she started to laugh, her voice low and ugly.

"Oh, honey," she said, voice dripping with condescension, "do you really believe in soulmates? You? Where's his name, then? Have you painted it onto your wrist too?"

Rapunzel held up both her hands to show them bare, but Gothel ignored her. She pulled out the satchel with the crown and tossed it toward Rapunzel.

"There's no such thing as soulmates. That man wants one thing," Gothel said. "Give it to him -- you'll see."

When Eugene came back with the firewood, Rapunzel tucked the satchel away. It wasn't the right time, she said to herself. Just in case -- well, if her mother was right, which Rapunzel didn't think she was, but if she was, Rapunzel didn't want him to leave before guiding her to see the lights. She'd give him the satchel then, and if it turned out that the name on his wrist belonged to some other Rapunzel, then there was really nothing she could do about that.

She asked Eugene if there was a stream nearby so she could wash up. Earlier that day she'd thought she'd never want to touch water again, but the underwater cave had left dirt and mud all over. She felt itchy and gross. She climbed in, trying to scrub without taking off her dress. Eugene choked a little and ran back into the trees, telling her she'd be able to find the camp because he'd get the fire started.

Rapunzel wondered for a moment if her mother would return to chide her further, but when Gothel didn't, she shucked off her dress, telling herself that she wanted to scrub it thoroughly. 

If she took the opportunity to check her body for any emerging tattoos, well, no one was around to tease her about it but her.

Especially since she didn't find anything, no matter how hard she looked.

*

Rapunzel read so many fairytales living in her tower, and she'd even written a few herself once she got the formula down. She imagined princesses and princes, shepherds and merchants, a world outside of her tower filled with intrigue and danger and dreams. In books, people lived and people died, but the kingdom went on. Love brought people together and destiny broke them apart. The world was at stake, or the village, or just a woman's heart.

Real life wasn't anything like that. A duke stabbed due to palace intrigues always had time for an impassioned speech to the seamstress who took up his quest. Real death was quick. Rapunzel could see Eugene was already struggling for breath, his eyes dimming. He was going to die right here in front of her if she didn't heal him now. He wouldn't be coming back like the long-lost heir who faked his death to escape political intrigue. Gothel would leave him here in their tower like so much discarded rubbish, and no one would even notice that he was gone, except for Rapunzel. She'd think about it every day. Her throat was closing up in panic and her fingernails scrabbled at the floorboards until Gothel agreed.

She would have agreed to anything. Soulmate or not, Rapunzel knew she'd give up her life for Eugene, and that at least was like all the fairytales. Living with her mother for the rest of her life was going willingly back into a cage she'd never escape again. Gothel would be more careful now. Rapunzel's life wouldn't belong to her anymore, as little as it had before. It wasn't a death; it wasn't like the bodyguard who stayed behind to fight highwaymen so that his charge could escape to safety. It was a prison she was used to, one she'd known all her life. She was getting off easily as long as she knew Eugene was still out there in the world. Maybe he'd find his real Rapunzel someday and they'd have adorable fat babies with names written on their calves. She could do this for him.

And then a lot happened at once -- he cut her hair, her mother fell from the tower, and her tears somehow brought him back to life. She didn't question it, didn't think about how she'd write it down or paint the scene. The two of them held each other for a long time without getting up, with Eugene's hands on her back and Rapunzel's arms around his neck. She just breathed in his scent and listened to his heart beat steadily. She felt so light-headed, both in an emotional and a physical way. Every time she moved, she missed the expected tug of heavy hair at the back of her neck.

Finally, Eugene shifted, admitting that his foot was asleep, and they untangled themselves. She helped him to his feet. He was still a little wobbly and she brushed her fingers again across his abdomen, but he reassured her that nothing hurt any longer; the blood was drying. Now that they were up, Rapunzel looked at the tower window. She knew what she'd see if she looked out and down, and that thought ached in her. Her mother -- her captor, but the woman who had raised her -- was dead, and no number of tears would bring her back. Rapunzel's life really was changing before her.

She took a tentative step away from Eugene towards the window, but stopped when he started laughing. She turned in surprise to see him doubled over laughing, occasionally glancing up at her as if to see if she got the joke, and when she continued to look confused, he pointed at her head. She touched her hair self-consciously, but he shook his head. Finally, he caught his breath.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked.

"Tell you what?"

"About your tattoo!" he said. "On the back of your neck. I can't believe you didn't tell me."

When she shook her head, still confused, he took her gently by the shoulders and led her over to stand in front of the broken mirror. She saw herself in the piecemeal reflection and barely recognized herself, lifting a hand again to touch her short brown hair.

Eugene was looking for something on the floor. Eventually he rose up holding a shard of mirror glass, his hand wrapped carefully in a strip of cloth so that he didn't cut himself. Then he stood behind her, holding it up, and said, "Put your head down a little -- now look."

The mirror in front of her reflected the mirror behind her so she could read the word, fresh and black on the nape of her neck. It was backwards in the reflection, of course, but clear enough. It would have been covered by her hair before, of course, which was probably why Eugene thought she had kept it secret from him, but Rapunzel knew it hadn't been there before. Gothel had always checked her visible skin, including her neck, and Rapunzel had too, just a couple days ago.

The tattoo said _Eugene_ , and it was the most beautiful name Rapunzel could ever have imagined showing up on her skin. She twisted around and wrapped her arms around her soulmate. He protested briefly that she could have cut herself on the mirror shard, but then tossed it into a corner of the room and hugged her back.

"Now everyone's going to know," Eugene murmured affectionately into the top of her head.

"You'll live," she answered him, and her soul sang.


End file.
